Spray forming shower tube



Jan. 5, 1954 vv. 0. STIEVATER SPRAY FORMING SHOWER TUBE Filed Aug. 1'7, 1950 Wflard C Mia mfier;

r O t. n e D n 3 (Ittorneg Patented Jan. 5, 1954 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE SPRAY FORMING SHOWER TUBE Willard C. Stievater, Tonawanda, N. Y.

Application August 17, 1950, Serial No. 179,977

2 Claims. (Cl. 299104) My invention relates to shower tubes and more particularly to spray forming shower tubes.

The objects of my invention are to provide a simple, lightweight, durable and eifective spray forming shower tube which is adaptable to various uses and which may be manufactured and sold at a low price; to provide a shower tube with a set of non-clogging discharge ports and a head spaced, formed and arranged with respect to the set of ports to produce a desired spray pattern, and to provide a shower tube with a plurality of sets of ports and heads, spaced, formed and arranged along the tube to produce spray patterns which intermingle and form a wall of spray suitable for an intended use.

In the drawing:

Figure 1 is an elevational view of a portion of a shower tube provided with one of my improved spray forming devices.

Figure 2 is a longitudinal sectional view taken on line 2-2 of Figure 1.

Figure 3 is a perspective view of a portable shower device in which the shower tube is provided with a spaced plurality of the spray forming devices, shown in Figures 1 and 2, and is bent to form an inverted U-shaped shower bath standard; and

Figure 4 is "an elevational view of a portion of a shower tube modified to provide another form of spray pattern.

For the purpose of exemplifying the principles of my invention Figures 1 and 2 of the drawing show a supply tube l having its side wall provided with a pair of discharge holes H which are spaced apart and located in a plane alined with the axis of the tube. A head [2, formed with a frusto-conical shaped surface i3, is secured to the tube with the surface l3 spaced from and overlying the holes II. The head It. for the sake of simplicity and low cost is preferably formed of a rust proof standard flat-head machine screw which may be readily screwed in a tapped hole M formed in the tube between the holes H or, if it is desired to eliminate the operation of tapping the hole, a so-called selftapping screw may be used. In either case the head is screwed tightly against the tube and does not require any locking devices to prevent its displacement.

The included angle of the frusto-conical surface of a standard fiat head machine screw is usually 82 and provides a head satisfactory for many uses, however, it is contemplated that heads having different included angles may be used for other uses.

It will be apparent from the form, arrangement and relative sizes of the holes I! and the head 12 that streams of fluid forced through the pair of holes II will be deflected by the frustoconical surface It of the head l2 and, somewhat is indicated by broken lines in the drawing, will form a pair of conically shaped segments of spray S the medial centers of which lie in a plane parallel to the tube. The angle and curvature of the surface It and the location of the holes I l is such that the medial portion of each spray is more concentrated or dense than its sides, and the sprays combine to provide a spray pattern of greater extent in the plane of the tube than in a plane transverse thereto. A shower having a spray pattern of this type requires less fluid than a spray pattern of uniform density and greater transverse extent and is well adapted to certain uses.

In the event conservation of fluid is of less importance than providing a spray pattern of greater transverse extent and more or less uniform density the tube It may be provided with additional pairs of spaced fluid discharge holes, as indicated in Figure 4 by the numeral ll so that sprays 'S' are formed and intermingle with the sprays 'S to provide the desired spray pattern.

The holes II are of small diameter but since their function is to direct streams of fluid against the head l2 which deflects and converts the streams into spray, they are not extremely small and are not readily clogged by dirt and other foreign substances that would block smaller holes.

The shower tube ll) of the present invention among its many possible uses, is well adapted for use in an inexpensive, light and portable shower device which, when connected to a source of water under pressure, serves as an outdoor shower for persons wishing to use its spray for cooling themselves and other purposes, and the device is readily movable from place to place to also utilize its spray for watering different portions of an area, for example, a lawn.

In Figure 3 the numeral [5 generally designates a form of shower device which has proven satisfactory for the above described purposes, and in which a length of the tube H), in a plane parallel to its axis, is provided with spaced sets of the spray forming devices shown in Figures 1 and 2. The tube It! is then bent to form an inverted U-shaped standard I5 in which the axis of the head and the holes of each set of spray forming devices are aligned and directed toward the center of the standard, so that the sprays S are directed toward the center of the standard and intermingle, thereby forming a wall of spray W in the standard.

The standard l5 may be supported in its upright position by any suitable form of base, however, in order to lower costs and weight, I prefer to utilize the section of tubing remaining after the standard I 5 is formed from a stock length of tubing to form the four supporting feet [6 for the standard. The feet [6 are secured in the opposite ends of the heads of a pair of T-fittings l1 one of which is secured to each end of the standard with its head in a plane transverse to the plane of the standard so that the four feet 16 provide a light and stable base :for the standard.

The outer end of one of the feet I6 is provided with a coupling l8 for detachably connecting the device [5 to a source of water pressure, e. g. a garden hose 19. Water entering the foot, provided with the coupling l8, passes through the associated fitting I1 and enters one end of the standard and to prevent water from flowing through the other feet suitable plugs (not shown) are provided.

The size and extent of the spray may be varied to suit ones needs and desires by simply opening or closing a suitable flow controlling valve (not shown).

Having now illustrated and described my inscrew-receiving through holes having their axes in a common plane longitudinally of the tubing and being formed with a plurality of small water discharge through holes equally spaced from each screw receiving hole and having their axes parallel to the axis of the associated screw receiv-- ing hole; and a screw screwed into each screw receiving hole, each of said screws serving to prevent flow of water through its screw receiving hole and being formed with a frusto-conically shaped head portion which overlies the associated plurality of discharge holes in outwardly diverging spaced relation and which serves to deflect and thereby convert the parallel streams of water emerging from the associated plurality of discharge holes into water spray suitable for intended uses of the device.

2. A water spraying device as set forth in claim 1 wherein the tubing is bent intermediate its closed and open end so that it forms an inverted U-shaped arch and the axes of all of the screws and discharge holes are directed inwardly, thereby providing a wall of inwardly directed spray in the arch, and the arch is provided with means for maintaining it in a fixed upright position.

WILLARD C. STIEVATER.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 648,263 Hull Apr. 24, 1900 1,204,309 Peterson Nov. 7, 1916 1,620,142 Thompson Mar. 8, 1927 1,827,235 Jarvis Oct. 13, 1931 1,936,249 Leser Nov. 21, 1933 2,145,451 McCoy Jan. 31, 1939 2,465,562 Hopper Mar. 29, 1 949 2,566,781 Tetzlaff Sept. 4, 1951 

